How I wish walking with the Lord meant a trouble-free life; a pain-free, easy walk through this world and into His arms!
Instead, He has arranged it that we journey through the valley, crawl through the valley, parched with thirst, and must continually, intentionally, keep holding out our empty cup and begging Him to fill it. This is not a romantic journey. It is a muddy trek through the valley of sweat and tears. The valley is deep and wide and wet and cold...and seems endless. We must rely on Him for the strength to go every inch. How often I beg Him to rescue me. Even though He already has.
You promise, O Lord, "blessed is the one who trusts in You".
Today, I choose again to believe You.
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest
for herself where she may lay her young at your altars,
O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob!
Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!
Psalm 84
